Since June 2013, detention of asylum seekers is legal in Hungary. This means that people forced to flee from their home country are often jailed when they arrive here. Recent reports of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and index.hu confirmed what we already knew from our regular visits to Debrecen (and wrote about here): conditions in detention are also alarming, detainees are being beaten in the Debrecen detention center.

On May 17 we will protest to end cruel detention and inhumane treatment of asylum seekers in Hungary. Asylum seekers are potentially vulnerable people who fled from their country fearing for their life and the safety of their family. Detaining them for not having legal travel documents contradicts basichuman rights.

How could we expect asylum seekers to integrate later as refugees in Hungary, if we lock them up and beat them when they arrive?

We invite Hungarian and European journalists, civil society and others interested to join the event, to get their own impression of how the conditions are in Debrecen and how detention affects asylum seekers' lives.

The protest at the Debrecen Camp starts from 3 PM, and there will be activities in front of the camp from 2-5 PM.

How to get there:

There will be an organized bus, departing from Budapest on Saturday morning at at 9.15 AM, Blaha Lujza tér (parking lot). If you would like to travel with us on the bus from Budapest, please let us know by Thursday, May 15, by contacting us through one of the channels below!

The Camp is located on Sámsoni út 149, at the outskirts of the city. Local bus nr. 19 goes there from the center. The last stop is that for the Camp.